Unforgiving: The Future Begins
by thelonechipmunk
Summary: The requested sequel to my story, "Unforgiving". Simon puts his plan for revenge against Alvin for all the years of stress into action. Alvin becomes quickly aware of this because of his previous vision and is faced with the task of stopping Simon. Will he succeed? Or will Simon be his and Theodore's demise?
1. A Long Night

**(I'm quite a push over, aren't I. One request and I make a sequel to "Unforgiving". To be honest though, I'm relieved to have written this. I felt that Unforgiving needed a proper ending. It was also a good opportunity to try out present tense writing, which I've come to absolutely love! If you haven't read "Unforgiving" yet, I'd highly recommend reading it first. It's my very first story. However, if you haven't read it and don't like extreme violence, I'd suggest moving on to a different series. Anyways, please make sure to review! I value your opinion! I'd also be especially grateful if you were to review each chapter. Anyways, enjoy!)**

**Third POV**

Alvin doesn't sleep at all tonight. He lies in his bed staring at the ceiling. The thin sheet beneath him is drenched in sweat and his little paws tightly grasp the blanket, holding it up to his chin. His eyes constantly dart from the ceiling, to the door, and to Simon's bed, hyper with unrelenting anxiety and anticipation of the possible events to come. It's going to be a long night.

Alvin rolls over to face towards Simon, simply to keep an eye on him. He recalls the vague memories of his dream, 'No...no, not a dream. A vision...', he thinks to himself. 'I don't remember there being any windows of any kind in that building. I have no idea what time it's supposed to happen. Just...the knifes, the pain...funny. It felt so real.'

Then, the fearful chipmunk catches movement in his glazed over eyes. Alvin reacts in microseconds and closes his eyes to pretend to be asleep as Simon sits up in his bed.

Alvin breaths extremely shallowly, as if it would help to not draw attention to him. Nothing happens. Everything is silent except for Theodore's soft snoring and the quiet whirling of the night fan.

Minutes pass...but nothing happens. Alvin's heart beats faster and faster as time goes on, filling his being with anxiety. His eye lids slowly part. Simon is no where to be seen. Alvin lifts his head and scans the room. His gaze stops on Theodore, sleeping so peacefully. A scream and Theodore's agonized expression suddenly flash in his mind, making Alvin flinch and his breathing quicken. He takes a deep breath and sighs in an attempt to reduce the stress that has been ravaging his mind ever since the vision. Alvin sits up and props himself on his elbows, thinking about what to do. 'Oh God...how am I supposed to stop this from happening. I-I'm so scared...'. Just then, Simon walks into the room with a small glass of water.

His expression seems shocked at first, maybe even irritated, but it fades faster than it came, "Alvin...w-what are you doing up?"

Alvin simply stares with a blank expression, yet petrified and unable to move or speak.

Simon smiles and walks towards Alvin's bed side, the latter watching his every movement, "Alvin? I feel like there's been a lot of tension between us lately.", says Simon as he sets the water onto their night stand before laying his paws onto his older brother's bed, "Do you think you could give me a hug? I feel that we haven't in far to long a time..."

With that, Simon holds up his arms to Alvin, continuing to smile. Alvin though continues to stare, 'Why's he trying to touch me? I bet he has a kitchen knife in his hoodie right now!', Alvin thinks to himself all the while keeping an eye on Simon.

Simon simply stares back for a moment...then decides to make the first move, broadening his grin a little to reassure the red-clad chipmunk he meant no harm by this as he jumps up onto the bed spread and attempts to pull Alvin into a hug.

Alvin cringes when Simon's arms wrap about him, but then feels paws run soothingly through his fur, making his muscles relax slightly. 'I'm not much of a hugger.', a random memory crosses Alvin's mind. Simon had said this back at an air port one time when they got to meet their Aunt Jackie. Puzzled even further now, Alvin's anxiety wells up inside him once again and he starts looking for any knifes or clamps or anything Simon might have concealed. It's as Alvin returns to his search for weapons that he notices Simon remove his right arm from their hug which proceeds to slip into the depths of his hoodie pocket. Alvin makes no second thoughts as he head butts Simon square in the nose and grabs and twists his right arm, making him gasp in pain as well as drop the syringe he was holding. No hesitation, no remorse, fury controlling him now, Alvin grabs the syringe and jams it as hard as he can up Simon's neck, the needle skewering his jaw and tongue and scraping the roof of his mouth. Alvin's eyes widen in horror and he pushes himself back with his legs, gazing in shock at what he'd just done.

Simon coughs twice and carefully grasps the syringe, wincing a little as he then pulls it out from his head. He stares down at it then looks at Alvin, "How did you-...Alvin?", Simon contorts his face into an expression of absolute hatred and anger, "I-I'm going to paint the walls with you!"

Alvin wants to scream, but in a blur of blue and brown, Simon already has his paws wrapping about his neck, squeezing as tightly as possible. Alvin paws at Simon's iron grip, desperate for air! Slowly, his vision fades, and he whispers, "n-no...", as he realizes he failed, despite knowing this would happen.


	2. The Torture Chamber

Alvin jerks awake upon the clatter of dangling chains. He's already hyper ventilating from the terror riddled memories of his vision and looks down for the straps, but none are to be seen. Instead, his paws are merely tied behind his back as he sits against an old, rusty, water heating tank. Looking around, he sees bright beams of sunlight shining across the filthy room from poorly boarded up windows. The room itself isn't too much bigger than a school class room, and is lined at the walls with rotting steal shelves bearing tool boxes and brown plastic containers, their contents however unknown. The room's center piece is a rickety iron table, topped with ancient tools and a coat of dust as thick as mud. Massive, jagged cracks form cross word puzzles along the ceiling, which does indeed bear chains that hang limp over leaking pipes, as well as the walls and glass peppered floor. The air is thick with the scent of oil and dust, and the only sound to be heard is the chains and the sharp, terse grating they making swaying from the pipes...no...there's something else...someone else.

"Th-Theodore? Are you there", Alvin whispers, scanning the room with hopeful eyes.

Moments pass, then a minute, now two. Nothing happens; no one responds. Alvin falls back against the tank in defeat, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath...then shakily sighs.

"Alvin? Are you still there?"

Said chipmunk perks up to life instantaneously, darting his head to the left, the adjacent quarter of the water heater from which the reticent voice called from. Looking closely now, Alvin notices the tips of his youngest brother's paws.

"Oh, thank God! Theodore, you're ok?", Alvin hastily asks, but radiating with unfathomable relief.

Theodore's feet shift slightly prior to his head poking about the corner of the water heater, "Alvin! W-where are we? Ooooh, my head hurts...", the green-clad chipmunk attempts to move his paws up to rub his head, but quickly finds himself incapable. His attention quickly returns to Alvin, his expression one of ever growing terror.

"A-A-Alvin?! What's happening?! I can't move!", Theodore exclaims, beginning to hyperventilate.

As Alvin opens his mouth to respond, he's cut off by the excruciatingly sharp whine of the metal door at the other end of the room creaking open. In the open door way is Simon, his blue hoodie replaced with black and his paw clamped tightly on the handle of a small rolling cart, his expression contorted with utter fury. He storms into the room and ditches the cart half way over to Alvin.

Simon lets out a short, anguished grunt as he slugs his eldest brother in the jaw, "HEERGH! I FUCKING HATE YOU!", Simon screams prior to turning away to claw at his head in exasperation.

Glistening networks of tears stream down Theodore's face as he pleas for mercy, "No, Simon! Please stop! Please stop! Ple-ease sto-op...", then breaks down balling.

Simon ignores his younger brother and whispers without turning back, "h-how...how did you know? i couldn't have possibly given it away. i was so clandestine, so careful and organized. yet it was as if you knew all along..."

Alvin shakes his head trying to reattain his bearings and spits blood out onto the concrete beside him, "Simon...I knew because, while I was still in a coma at the hospital, I was having a dream, or vision. I saw the future. You were torturing me and had already killed Theodore for practice...", Alvin shudders, "...I...I felt every moment as if it were really happening. It's indescribable how much agony I suffered. Just...you don't have to do it, Simon! It isn't worth it a-and seriously overachieves your desire for revenge! I...I can change, Simon! I promise! After the vision alone, I couldn't even imagine putting myself first ever again! Please, at least consider starting over! We could all just walk out of here, together, a-as loving brothers!"

Simon just stands there, motionless...then twists around and lands a kick straight into Alvin's gut. Alvin coughs and gags, blood leaking out the corners of his mouth. Theodore cries more.

Simon just watches and relishes, "I find that a bit difficult to believe. You could of course be lying, but I think you know better than to lie to me at a time like this, especially if that's true. ", he sighs, "It's a shame too. That means you have to suffer again!"

Alvin looks up in horror, "Simon! Please don't do this to us!"

"Us? What do you mean us? You don't care about anyone but yourself! That excludes Theodore!"

"Fuck you! I love Theodore twice as much as myself! I'm not so sure about you now, though!"

"I figured as much for the latter. But then again, you never cared much about me anyway!"

"Uh, at what point did I mention a ladder?"

Simon slaps his forehead with his paw, "Oh...my...God, shut up...you ignorant FUCK!"

Simon rushes over to the cart, scattering the contents on it. He's clearly looking for something specific, although not having a whole lot of luck.

Simon cusses again, "WHERE'D I PUT THAT STUPID HAMMER?!"

Simon storms out of the room, his every sentences consisting of the F word at least once. Alvin shudders in despair, Theodore along side him sniveling.

Alvin looks over at his green-clad brother, "H-Hey, Theo?"

Said chipmunk sniffs again as he looks over at Alvin, a tear streaking down his already damp facial fur, "Um, yeah? A-Alvin?", he feebly replies.

"We have to get out of here, now."

"How?! We're all tied...", he begins breathing very heavily, "...u-up...oooh...Alvin?! I'm scared of Simon!"

"I know, Theo. I am too. But we have to be brave."

Theodore swallows bile that had risen in his throat, "Ok..."

"Well, first, let me get you untied. Get on your belly so I can get to your restraints"

Theodore does as he's told, getting onto his knees before carefully lowering himself until his cheek is rubbing against the concrete. He waits a moment before feeling something fiddling with the thin rope holding his paws together and looks back to find Alvin feverishly gnawing on the restraints. A minute passes before Alvin at last cuts through the rope. Theodore instantly jumps up to his rear paws and brings his frontal paws up in front of him, examining them as he sighs in relief.

Alvin gets up as well, still tied up, and quickly approaches the rolling cart Simon left, "Hey, Theo. Come over here and cut me loose!"

Said chipmunk does just this without hesitating, taking a small scalpel that effortlessly cuts through Alvin's restraints.

"Phew, glad I can move my arms again. Ok, Theo...", Alvin begins scanning the room, "...we can't just go through the door. We'd get caught for sure. What else could work?"

As Alvin continues searching for an escape route, he's contorted into a stone still position wide eyed at the sound of a loud clang somewhere outside the door.

"oh shit...", he whispers and looks at Theodore, then to the door, to the walls again, the air duct.

"Theodore, can you get to the top of that shelf?"

The green-clad chipmunk follows Alvin's gaze and then quickly nods. Without another word, the two of them clamber up the metal frame, jumping from shelf to ledge and to shelf again. The grating of rusty wheels hastily approaches from outside, getting louder and louder! The two chipmunks' tiny hearts pound faster and faster in their chests as they continue to climb; jump, grab, pull, jump, grab, pull. They're almost at the top now and the approaching sound is louder than ever! Alvin leaps up two shelves, reaching the top but just barely catching a hold of the ledge and hoists himself up. He rushes over to the adjacent half of the shelf's edge and reaches out for Theodore, but he's still three shelves down.

Alvin hisses impatiently, "come on, Theodore! hurry!"

The green-clad chipmunk manages to jump to the next shelf, huffing rapidly now. Still two to go. *CRASH* Alvin's attention jerks towards the slowly opening door and the new cart pressing into it. Alvin's instincts kick in, adrenaline pumping fiercely through his veins, and turns around and lowers himself so he's hanging onto the ledge merely by his paws and his tail swishes back and forth at the drop below him.

"Theo! You have to jump one more time! Grab my tail!", yells Alvin.

Promptly after this outburst, Simon slides over the under panel connected to the cart legs, not caring as slivers of rusted metal lodge themselves into him, and enters the room contorted with bewilderment and fury. His eyes instantly lock onto the two chipmunks struggling to get to the top of the shelf.

Simon gnashes his teeth together in utter rage, "ALVIN!", he screams as he scurries at top speed to the shelf.

Alvin looks over his shoulder and almost loses his grip on the ledge from fear border-line overcoming him, "Theo! Please jump, now!"

Said chipmunk looks back to see Simon, his face that of a blood lust driven monster and screams as he jumps up and grasps Alvin's tail in both paws. Alvin pulls himself up along with the weight pulling against his tail, his adrenaline providing strength and efficiency as he rhythmically grabs at each notch in the shelf's surface to pull himself forward. Upon getting a rear paw onto the ledge, Alvin kicks against it, swinging Theodore up onto the shelf.

"Ugh, come on, lets get out of here, Theo.", says Alvin and promptly rushes to the wall, where the grill of the air vent looks back at him.

Alvin then takes out the scalpel they'd collected and starts undoing the screws surrounding the grill. He's only just gotten the first off when Theodore turns around to find Simon desperately clambering up the ledge to get to them. Theodore notices he's holding some sort of rod in one paw.

"Alvin! Hurry!", Theodore screams.

Alvin tries his best to ignore the fear welling up inside him so he can concentrate. He positions the scalpel, twists, positions, twists, positions, twists, positions-

"Huh?!", Alvin exclaims as he goes to turn the screw again but it fails to even budge, "NUTS! It's too rusty! H-hey, Theodore! Help me turn this, quickly!"

Said chipmunk and Alvin both set the scalpel in the notch of the screw head and push into it, both their combined weight at first not accomplishing much. They begin rapidly ramming into it, quickly developing unison. The screw turns slightly just as an enraged scream emanates behind them! Alvin rams into the scalpel screaming in desperation followed by Theodore again, breaking the screw in half but falls from the hole.

"It's open!", yells Alvin and bends the grill partially open so his youngest brother can squeeze inside and instantly follows, closing the grill behind them and jams the scalpel through the panels of the grill into the thin metal around it just as Simon reaches them and crashes into the grill.

Simon recomposes himself and looks down at the scalpel, rubbing his forehead. Alvin walks up to the grill and smirks, "Hahaha! Can't get us now, can you!"

Simon's eyes refocus on Alvin and he brings his right arm back.

"ALVIN!", Theodore yells and grabs his eldest brother by his wrist and yanks him back, Alvin then landing on his rump simultaneously with a sharp and terse grate of metal as a large drill bit skewers the grill and stops right in front of Alvin's nose.

Behind the grill, Simon wields the ten inch long drill bit in his paw. His face is contort with V'ing eye brows and grinding teeth behind lips quivering with fury.

Alvin stares only for a moment in unsettling silence before getting up to his rear paws and turns away. Theodore follows, leaving the seething chipmunk on the other side of the grill behind them.

Simon lets go of the drill bit and pries at the panels, but they refuse to move the slightest bit, "Alvin! ALVIIIIIIN! DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY FROM ME!"

The two receding chipmunks ignore the screams and banging of paws on metal as they continue walking away and round a turn in the air duct, leaving Simon to writhe in anger.

Simon smashes his balled up paws on the grill as his brothers dissipate from view, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!".


	3. Abscond

It's been a few minutes since Alvin and Theodore escaped Simon.

The two of them had navigated the maze of dark air vents for a while before stopping near a grate that bathes the vent in dim light to rest and regain their bearings, of which they now sit on either side of the duct, Alvin contemplating what to do next while his little brother just lounges there with his eyes closed. Alvin looks down and places his paw on the cold metal. It's extremely rusty, brown and grey from years of abandonment. He presses in paw into it and hears a low, bellowing creek emanate from all around him, which makes Theodore open his eyes.

Alvin speaks without taking his eyes off of the floor, "Do you think we could break through this? If we can find a room that these ducts overlook, we could probably break through and find a way out."

Theodore stares inquisitively, "Couldn't we just go through the grates?"

"No...they're screwed in place from the outside. Our only hope is to break through the rust somehow or find a hole in the duct."

Theodore looks down in disappointment. The red-clad chipmunk places his paw on his shoulder, arousing his attention once more, "Don't worry, Theo. We'll get outta here. I promise."

Theodore smiles and they both get back up. Alvin carefully pads down the rusty hallway, his brother following closely behind as they begin their search for escape. The light of the previous grate quickly fades away, so they slow down and have to start using their paws to feel ahead of them. Several minutes more pass by of them feeling around the darkness, their paws saving the two of them from smacking into the metal walls multiple times. As they feel their way around another corner, light bubbles up from the floor beyond, dimly illuminating the middle of the path ahead in an orange puddle of light.

Theodore smiles and points at it, "Alvin, look!"

The two of them run up to the light and stop cold at the small gashes in the duct. The three breaks in the metal gape open at them like glowing maws, ready to devour anything small enough to fall through and then slowly digest it. Looking over the crevices, Alvin finds that they open up to a massive cavern of some sort below. The source of the glowing emanates from a large, concrete vat in which looks like liquid steel. Alvin reels back a bit as he's hit with a wave of intense heat from the bubbling contents below.

"Sheesh, that stuff's seriously hot! Wow...do you reckon this place is some sort of iron manufacturing plant or something?", says Alvin and turns to his little brother.

Theodore takes one look down the crevice and immediately backs away, "I-I hope you d-don't plan on going down there...uh, do you?", stutters Theodore as he began to tremble.

Alvin sighs, "Theo, it...this may be the only way out. We have to at least try to escape this way, even if it is dangerous."

Without another word, Alvin bends down and begins picking at the rusty metal about the crevices in an attempt to make them big enough to fit through. He manages to break off a couple inches of metal and tosses them aside. Then, he bends the crevice's jagged edges inward so that he and Theodore aren't shredded when going through.

Alvin looks back at a shaking Theodore, "I'll go first. I'll tell you what to do once I'm through, ok?"

Theodore swallows a lump that had formed in his throat and nods.

The red-clad chipmunk faintly smiles then promptly gets down to the crevice and begins to crawl through. Upon poking his head through and scanning the surroundings, Alvin finds that around the large vat of melted steel, which at this view looks like a thick, concrete cylinder, are several more of the like. Below them, the ground is dark grey steel, littered with iron tables and containers filled with random old supplies and tools, which also pepper the floor here and there. Stacks of big crates line the walls as well as scrap metal and old parts form mountains beside them and the vats. The walls themselves are made up of exceedingly roughly smoothed out rock except for just around a lone steel door embedded in it at the far right of the cavern, which is instead bordered with steel panels. Alvin looks along the ceiling, which forms some what of a crooked, jagged dome shape. Large and tiny pipes alike criss cross along the dome, either embedding themselves into the walls or running along the wall down to the steel floor. Luckily, several smalls pipes pass nearly under the crevice, a bit to the side of it. Alvin carefully evaluates the distance between him and the pipes and whether or not Theodore would be able to get to them. The pipes are about a foot and a half away and only a couple inches lower than the air duct. He would likely have to get there himself and help Theodore over. The red-clad chipmunk nods in self assurance and eases himself further through the crevice. He then places his rear paws against the edge of the crevice, his front paws holding him up by the sides of it, then lets go and kicks forward as hard as he can. Alvin propels himself just under the pipes but grabs onto them, just before he'd have flown past and plummeted to his death, and pulls himself up.

Alvin takes a deep breath and sighs in utter relief before calling back to Theodore, "Ok, Theo! I made it! Now, it's not that I think you're weak or anything, but I think I'll have to catch you! I couldn't bare it if you didn't make the jump. Um, can you jump far enough to at least reach me?"

No answer. Alvin frowns in frustration and worry, "Um, Theodore? Can you jump through the crevice? I'm on a bunch of pipes. I'll catch you!...please?"

Alvin sits down, hunched under the air duct and stares at the crevice for a minute...two minutes...then he catches a glimpse of movement. Another moment passes, then the face of his brother, illuminated by the soft orange glow of the vat contents, appears through the crevice. He's hesitant at first, but eventually starts crawling through as Alvin had, cautiously and leisurely placing his paws on the crevice edges. Alvin quickly reacts and gets down on his belly with only his head and arms out from the safety of the pipes just as Theodore kicks forward. As he flies past, Alvin grabs his arms and pulls him up onto the pipes. The two of them crawl out from under the duct and plop down on top of the pipes.

The red-clad chipmunk breathes heavily a few times then busts out laughing, "Hahahahaha haaa! We made it!"

Theodore looks over at his eldest brother, "Please don't ever make me do something like that again..."

"I won't if I can help it. I promise, bro."

"Alvin? How do we get to the ground, now?"

Alvin rolls over onto his stomach, pushes himself up onto his knees and scoots to the edge of the pipes. He looks down, "Well, this certainly isn't the circus. We can't go jumping into pools of 'water' here!", he says with emphasis, "We'll have to find a way to climb down."

Theodore looks around until his eyes meet at a vertical, metal pipe, about an inch or two thick, that runs along the wall all the way down to the floor.

"Alvin? Um, not that I like this idea, but...what about sliding down that pipe?"

Said chipmunk follows his brothers line of sight to the pipe and grins, "That's perfect! It's...uh...it's like being a fire fighter, Theo!"

"A fire fighter?", the green-clad chipmunk looks over the pipes to the steel floor and stumbles back a little in fear. It's at least a thirty foot drop.

"Come on! You'll be perfectly safe so long as you don't let go of the pipe. You have to trust me!"

Alvin hastily bounds over to Theodore and grabs one of his paws and guides him over to the pipe, which is a foot to the right of the pipes they stand on.

"Theodore, this is the only way we can get out of here! It's as simple as a little bit of courage; to be able to jump only one foot and slide down to safety. Please, this is the last think you've gotta do!", exclaims Alvin.

The green-clad chipmunk quivers as chills claw up his spine. He looks over at his eldest brother, "Could you go down with me?"

Alvin scoffs, "What kind of question is that? Of course I will!"

Alvin immediately grabs Theodore by his wrist and makes his way back under the duct, out onto the other side and to the edge of the pipes. The shivering chipmunk beside him grabs tightly onto him, his own arm wrapping about said chipmunk prior to taking a step back. Alvin and Theodore then bolt forward and jump across the gap, still latched onto each other, and slam into the vertical pipe. Alvin's free arm and legs lock onto the pipe and they begin sliding down. Theodore looks down frantically at the ground closing in on him and closes his eyes and gnashes his teeth together to block out his terror. In the darkness, he feels as though his internal organs shift into his chest, then after a moment slightly drop, then plummet back down to his tail end as he abruptly stops falling.

Theodore's eyes peer open, revealing one of the vats of liquid steel towering over him. Alvin pries Theodore's paws off of him and falls flat on his back. The red-clad chipmunk sighs in relief and looks about him at the monumental room, then looks up at the top of the cavern.

Alvin whistles in awe, "Sheesh. That was a long drop! This place is enormous!", he takes another deep breath and exhales, "You know, Theo, if we weren't running from a psychopathic killer, I'd probably want to stay here for a while."

Theodore glares at Alvin, "Don't call him that! Simon is still our brother! He's not a murderer! He...he'd never hurt me...I don't think he's going to actually try to kill you either. It's like dumpster wrestling, remember that from High School?"

Alvin chuckles as he gets up and starts off to find the exit, Theodore following close behind, "Did you not see Simon try to stab me earlier? He kidnapped us and tied us up! And how often do you hear him cuss the way he did? Never! I feel like that's not even really my brother, he's so different!"

Theodore taps Alvin's shoulder to stop him just as they're navigating around a mound of scrap metal, "Alvin...you know in your heart that you're wrong. The Simon we know and love is still in him. We just have to find him."

Alvin sighs, "I know...I'm just a bit worked up over this. You know, he tortured me in my vision of this while in my coma."

Theodore stares a moment, then swallows a lump in his throat, "Well, uh, that was just a nightmare. Besides, we can convince him together that we can fix all this, that we can live as a family again."

Alvin smiles, "Thanks, Theo. Now lets see if can't find a way outta here. We'll convince him once he's in a straight jacket."

The two of them then continue down the iron aisle and slowly make their way to the steel doors Alvin had spotted from up in the air duct. A minute passes of them cautiously moving about the vats and ancient clutter until they pad past a small furnace and round another vat, bringing them into an aisle that must connect to the center of the cavern. At the end of the aisle looms over them, the doors out of this Hell. They approach the gray doors, but suddenly freeze at a hissing sound, and the doors abruptly swing outward by hydraulics, revealing a figure.


	4. Confronting Simon

Alvin and Theodore have no time to react as Simon dashes forward and pile drives into Alvin. Alvin hits his head hard on the metal floor, and before he can do anything, Simon brings his elbow across his face, blood spurting across the steel. Alvin lies still on the floor as Simon gets up off of him and looks over at their youngest brother.

"S-Simon!", Theodore squeaks in consternation.

Said chipmunk ignores him and reverts his attention back to Alvin prior to grabbing the red-clad chipmunk by his legs and dragging him behind one of the vats. Theodore scampers after them, fear quickly welling up inside him once again. When he finds himself in the aisle, the first thing he sees is Alvin lying on the dirt slick steel. What he sees next is Simon, crouched beside the open door of the furnace he and Alvin had passed earlier. He tosses a few coals out onto the ground and proceeds to grab Alvin again and drag him over to the small steel door.

"SIMON, NO! DON'T HURT MY BROTHER!", Theodore screams hysterically and bolts forward, grasping Simon by his arm and tries to pry him off of Alvin.

Simon glares at the struggling chipmunk with fiery eyes and grit teeth, brings a balled up paw back and strikes Theodore directly in his snout. Theodore staggers back and falls onto his rump, feebly pawing at his nose, from which a tiny stream of blood depreciates. Tears well up in Theodore's eyes as he begins to ball.

Simon smirks and revels in his little brother's pain, and because of this, doesn't notice as Alvin looks from Theodore, now conscious again, and up at Simon with a face contort with unrelenting hatred.

An unnaturally low snarl gurgles from Alvin's throat and he grabs Simon's paw, instantly stealing back his attention, and jerks it away from his ankle with incredible force, taking Simon along with it to the steel floor.

They both rush to their feet but Simon hurls the first punch, which is caught in Alvin's paw, "DON'T YOU EVER HIT THEODORE!", Alvin screams before promptly pulling the black-clad chipmunk behind him and lets go, throwing him against the door of the furnace.

Alvin then snatches a small, metal pipe from the ground beside them and whales against the side of Simon's head twice, the first strike seeming to do nothing, then the second spraying blood across the filthy metal with a sickening crack. Simon falls limp to his side, but his eyes are wide open and blinking like mad, open mouthed and quivering as Alvin drops the pipe to the ground.


	5. Freed From Hate

**Simon's POV**

I lay on a gritty and cold floor, dazed and utterly confused. My head throbs horribly and I can feel something wet on my left cheek and ear. I try to take a breath; the air is hot and heavy, doing nothing but fueling the pounding in my head. I look up, my vision have blurred while the other side is clear as crystals. About me are massive, rusted structures accompanied by tools, tables, crates and scrap alike. I suddenly hear a crackle like feet on fine gravel and turn my attention to beside me.

A chipmunk wearing a red hoodie and splattered with blood looms over me. Behind him is another chipmunk, but in a green hoodie, his face stricken with blood and tears. Neither of them are of the slightest bit recognizable.

I'm startled as the red-clad chipmunk abruptly grabs me by my leg and drags me towards an open machine, glowing dimly from inside. I kick and struggle to get away but I'm just too weak to do anything. The chipmunk then lets go and grabs my wrist, yanking me over to right in front of the machine and shoves me into it's open maw. I fall hard onto a warm, metal grate inside and cringe at the crash of the door closing behind me. My ears begin to ring while I lie there in pain and look to the door, from which I can see both chipmunks now. They seem to be arguing.

The red-clad chipmunk suddenly grabs and pulls a lever down on the machine I'm caged in, creating a hissing sound, followed by a burst of heat from below me.

I look down in shock at the flames licking at my paws, then back at the chipmunk, "W-wait! I don't know what's going on! Why are you doing this to me?!", I try to yell, but my voice comes out as a pathetic murmur.

The one that turned on the machine simply stares at me, then the green-clad chipmunk says something to him again. He responds with an inquisitive expression, then looks at me again as I huddle against the door, away from the flames and reddening metal. I take the flat bars of the door in my paws and do the only thing I can do; look at my demise in the eyes and hope that there's mercy somewhere inside them.


	6. It's Over

**Third POV**

"Alvin, I'm telling you, something's wrong. I can see it in his eyes, "Theodore points for emphasis, "that's not the same Simon!"

"Sure, like that's possible.", says Alvin as he gets down on his haunches and looks into Simon's eyes.

Alvin's a bit taken back when he realizes the black-clad chipmunk's familiar fiery glare is no longer present. A veil of tears glisten over his eyes, revealing nothing but pain and fear. The longer Alvin stares, the less of Simon he can see, and the more said brother becomes just a frightened chipmunk, clambering for escape from imminent death. Alvin's expression soon softens as he slowly gives into believing that Simon somehow changed, reaches for the lever, and pushes it back up, killing the intense fire inside the furnace.

Theodore and Alvin both open the furnace door. Simon crawls out, trembling, though relieved, but remains down on his paws and knees, afraid that if he did anything else, Alvin would hit him or something.

"Simon, can you stand up?", Alvin asks.

Simon does nothing.

"Si? C-can you hear me?", he tries again.

Still nothing.

Alvin frowns in worry, then notions for Theodore to follow him as they walk up to Simon and cautiously help him to his rear paws. Without another word, they guide Simon over to the doors and vacate the cavern. They pad up several run ways, like flat stairs, passing many aged doors and hallways before heading through another door to find themselves in a monumental warehouse, outfitted similarly to the room Alvin and Theodore had first found themselves in upon awakening. Across the warehouse at the opposite end towers large shutter doors, and beside them, a single wooden door, gaping wide open, from which sun light pours through, illuminating the dust in the air.

As the trio makes there way to the door, Simon, his ringing beginning to subside, thinks about everything that had happened. The waking up on the floor in a daze, the red-clad chipmunk nearly burning him alive, yet now helps him escape this horrible place he's found himself in. Why has this happened? What caused it? Was he to blame?

Alvin also contemplates his experience. According to Simon, back in his vision, this event had been building up for a long time. It's clear to Alvin now more than ever as to how much stress he'd been placing onto Simon's shoulders all their lives, though Simon could always just have been over sensitive, Alvin feels it doesn't change the fact that this was all still partially his fault.

By now, they reach the door, smiles creeping across their faces as they step out onto the cool grass and warm sun shine. They only venture a bit further and situate themselves beside a great oak tree next to the warehouse, where Simon is placed against the trunk while the other two sit in front of him.

Alvin is the first to speak, "Well, finally we're out of there. Um, can you still not here me?"

Simon faintly smiles as he can now hear almost as clearly as his right vision is, "Y-yeah...my ears were ringing too much for me to make out anything for a while."

"Oh, good.", the red-clad chipmunk clears his throat, "Sooo, d-do you know who we are?"

Simon's smile vanishes, "No...I just know you tried to kill me..."

Alvin grows a bit angry at this statement, "Quite the opposite, actually. You-...actually, forget that. I don't want to talk about what happened down there, not yet at least."

Theodore scoots closer to the black-clad chipmunk, "You must know who I am at least!"

Simon's heart sinks, "I-I'm sorry, I just...I don't know either of you. I've never seen you my whole life."

A tear drops from Theodore's eye and down his cheek, "My...my name's Theodore...I'm your brother."

Simon opens his mouth, dumbfounded and left with a feeling of guilt as though he should have known as Alvin speaks up again, "My name's Alvin. I'm also your brother."

Simon swallows a lump in his throat, suddenly feeling self iniquity as though he was responsible for a tragedy, "Um, I-I don't know what to say...I don't remember either of you! Wait...I don't...who am I?"

"You're our brother. Simon.", answers Alvin, "We used to love each other more than anything. We stood up for one another. All three of us lived happily together with our step-father, Dave. He had us go to school together, heh heh, you're the smartest of us all."

Simon and Theodore chuckle along with Alvin. Simon then looks over at the slowly rolling clouds. He sighs and leans back against the tree and closes his eyes.

"Guys?", Simon murmurs.

"I'm here, bro.", acknowledges Alvin.

"Take me to a hospital. I think I'm bleeding my brains out...", he exaggerates.

Alvin busts out laughing as he reaches into his hoodie, then quickly dies down to a groan of realizing exasperation, "You...wouldn't happen to remember where you put my phone after taking us here, would you?"

Simon's eyes peer open for a second, then close again as he exhales, "Nuts...".

**(I feel that this is necessary. As credits, I think you should listen to the youtube video, "Audiomachine - Fields of Strife". The url is " watch?v=PkLrpzfqiJo". Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the story! Also, a brief prologue here, Simon didn't forget any of his talents or knowledge, just any and all affiliations. They eventually reform their band and pretty much live happily ever after. Also, Simon becomes accustomed to Alvin's daily shenanigans as well as Alvin makes sure not to do things like his forgetting to show up at the sing off during the second movie anymore. It basically sets the foundation for anything in this story to never happen again. Sooo, don't ask for a third in this series. It's over now. Besides that, I'd greatly appreciate any reviews! That includes those of you who neglect to make an account. You may not have an account, but that doesn't mean you can't review! It just means I can't respond to you if necessary, which in most cases, it is.)**


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